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My Favourite Mangas: Part 1

I think I was in fourth grade when I first started reading manga. I was introduced to them by a girl who was in my French tutor class at the time. I never saw her again, but I'll be forever grateful for being introduced to it. I don't remember what was my first manga that I ever read, but I can tell you that I still own the first manga books that I ever got. They weren't truly manga, but they were graphic novels all the same.

And so since I talk about books so much on this blog, why don't I also talk about some of my favourite mangas of all time? I've read a couple more outside of these that don't have English releases and I read as scanlations. There will probably be a part two to this post with more of my favourite contemporary or "shoujo" mangas.

ANYWAYS. Let's get on to it.

BAKUMAN

Is becoming a successful manga artist an achievable dream or just one big gamble?

Average student Moritaka Mashiro enjoys drawing for fun. When his classmate and aspiring writer Akito Takagi discovers his talent, he begs Moritaka to team up with him as a manga-creating duo. But what exactly does it take to make it in the manga-publishing world? Moritaka is hesitant to seriously consider Akito''s proposal because he knows how difficult reaching the professional level can be. Still, encouragement from persistent Akito and motivation from his crush push Moritaka to test his limits!

I really enjoyed Bakuman, especially since at the point I had been reading manga for a long time. This manga is about manga. The main characters are manga artists/writers and it's about the world of mangakas and the whole process of it. I've read manga about mangakas before, but I think this one was the most enjoyable one of them all, especially with the mangas that the characters create! There are several that I would love to read! Also, I think this is a great way to introduce someone to the manga culture because it's all about manga.

BLOODY MONDAY

Takagi Fujimaru may seem like a regular high school student, but behind the cheery facade lies a genius hacker by the name of Falcon. When his father is framed for a murder, Falcon uses his brilliant hacking skills to try and protect his sister and clear his father''s name. However, he finds that his father, an agent in an elite government agency, was involved with something far more complex than a simple murder. A terrorist group is plotting against the city of Tokyo and it is up to Falcon, with the help of his friends to unravel the twisted plans set in place to kill millions of people.

FREAKING BLOODY MONDAY. Oh god. If you love thrillers, this is definitely for you. I don't even know. There are three "seasons" to this manga and Bloody Monday is the first installment. The main character is a teenage hacker and basically he and his friends battle against a terrorist group with a bio-weapon. Seriously. This was pretty darn good.

PSYREN

Those were Sakurako Amamiya's last words to her friend Ageha Yoshina before she mysteriously went missing. Now Ageha's on a quest to find her. He's convinced that the mythical Psyren Secret Society has something to do with the recent rash of disappearances. And now he seems to be caught up as a player in their very deadly game...

This one is really up there with my top mangas of all time. Seriously, this one is so good. As Ageha tries to find Sakurako, he gets sucked into the world of Psyren and in order to escape it, he has to achieve the goal of that mission. I don't know how to explain it properly, but this is seriously, really freaking good. Give it a shot. I would categorize this as a sci-fi-ish type of manga.

RED RIVER (ANATOLIA STORY)

Youri, a pretty Japanese girl who just passed a college entrance exam, is ecstatic after her first kiss with her handsome childhood friend-turned-boyfriend, Himuro. Meanwhile, she starts to notice that water becomes agitated whenever she goes near it! One night, hands appear out of a puddle on the street and drag her into the water. She emerges from the water to find that she has been transported to an ancient village somewhere in the Middle East. She is then captured by armed troops and taken to the queen's palace, where she learns that the queen had her kidnapped so she can offer her blood as part of a ritual that will kill two princes in competition to inherit the kingdom.

This synopsis is a little inaccurate of the actual story. Her name is Yuri and she had just gotten into high school rather than college. Yuri is transported all the way to Ancient Turkey, around the time when Tutankhamun was pharoh of Egypt. Evil queen or "tawananna" of the Hittites, Nakia, wants to place her son on the throne even though he is last in the line of succession. And in order for her to achieve this, she needs to kill Yuri to create a spell to kill the other princes in line. This story is absolutely fantastic and I adore it to pieces! Yuri is a kickass character and you really get to watch her grow into her own. Highly reccomend. There are touches of supernatural elements, but it isn't overused in the story whatsoever.

ONE PIECE

As a child, Monkey D. Luffy was inspired to become a pirate by listening to the tales of the buccaneer "Red-Haired" Shanks. But Luffy's life changed when he accidentally ate the Gum-Gum Devil Fruit and gained the power to stretch like rubber...at the cost of never being able to swim again! Years later, still vowing to become the king of the pirates, Luffy sets out on his adventure...one guy alone in a rowboat, in search of the legendary "One Piece," said to be the greatest treasure in the world...

This is the only manga in this list that is yet to be complete! One Piece is loooooong and it's 600+ chapters and going strong! This series is about a genuinely good pirate named Luffy and it's refreshing how good and innocent he is though he isn't naive, I would say. This series is one of the more mainstream ones, but it's really great and it's silly but has strong themes and strong values.

These mangas I really highly recommend and I hope you check them out and let me know how you like them!